Biden Aide Calls Hunter Biden Probe ‘an Entirely Partisan Smear’

(Bloomberg) -- Senate Republicans’ continued push to investigate Hunter Biden is “an entirely partisan smear,” a top campaign adviser to his father, Joe Biden, said Monday.“The more Republicans come forward and say we’re going to focus on Hunter Biden,” deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield said, “only underscores what a partisan attempt this is to try to derail” his father’s presidential hopes.Bedingfield made her comments at a Bloomberg News reporter roundtable in Manchester, New Hampshire, responding to a question about a request last week from Senators Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson for the U.S. Secret Service to provide records of the younger Biden’s travel while his father was vice president. The Treasury Department has already complied with a request from the same senators to provide financial records about Hunter Biden and his associates, Yahoo News reported last week.Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukrainian energy company that had been embroiled in controversy, while his father oversaw U.S. policy on Ukraine. Biden pushed for the firing of Ukrainian prosecutor general Viktor Shokin, who has since claimed that he was removed because he was investigating Burisma and Biden wanted to protect his son. The claim has been debunked.President Donald Trump will “spend a tremendous amount of time” trying to smear the eventual Democratic nominee, Bedingfield said, and, in her view, Biden has been able to withstand it. “Other candidates have not really faced the full force of Trump“ and their ability to survive it remains an open question, she said.To contact the reporter on this story: Jennifer Epstein in Manchester, New Hampshire at jepstein32@bloomberg.netTo contact the editor responsible for this story: Wendy Benjaminson at wbenjaminson@bloomberg.netFor more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.

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